Hasta La Gadget!

Any of you who bothered to read Engadget this past Labor Day Monday must’ve noticed all those Nokia leaks making the rounds. Chief among them was a wireless charging pad, featured in a legit-looking press shot. Well, Nokia’s big day of announcements has arrived and indeed, the company just formally unveiled the charging accessory — a soap-dish-shaped device based on the popular Qi wireless standard. (Of course, the Lumia 920’s built-in Qi tech means that you can use all manner of third-party charging pads; they don’t have to be made by Nokia.) Additionally, the company briefly teased a Fatboy-branded pillow (pictured), also designed for recharging. Other than that, the company didn’t share too many specifics, though it did reveal that Virgin Atlantic and Coffee Bean will both be offering wireless charging — Virgin in its Heathrow Airport lounge, and Coffee Bean on its countertops.

Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals, Mobile

Nokia announces wireless charging pads, Fatboy Recharging Pillow for Lumia phones originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Sep 2012 10:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

That was quick: we’d heard rumors through The Verge of wireless charging coming to the repeatedly leaked Lumia 920 alongside a pseudo-PureView camera, and the mysterious @evleaks has come through with what looks to be press photos showing the wireless charging pad in action. As long as they’re more than just wild imaginings, they reveal a puck-like surface that could juice up both the Lumia 920 and the less ambitious 820. We don’t know much more about the charger, although it’s expected to use Qi and wouldn’t limit the phones and pad to coupling solely with each other. We’ll know the bigger picture on September 5th; in the meantime, check after the break for a bonus picture showing both Windows Phone 8 devices with an unnamed Bluetooth headset (likely a Luna variant) that might join the charger in Nokia’s accessory line.

Continue reading Nokia Lumia wireless charging pad breaks cover

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Nokia Lumia wireless charging pad breaks cover originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Sep 2012 11:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  EVLeaks (Twitter), (2)  | Email this | Comments

Nokia‘s Lumia 920 PureView Windows Phone 8 handset, expected to be unveiled officially in New York on Wednesday, will feature wireless charging and an 8-megapixel camera, according to new leaks. The flagship device, press photos of which apparently leaked late last month, will support the Qi wireless power standard according to The Verge‘s sources, for easier recharging.

That will work using a magnetic strip embedded in the back of the Lumia 920, and will be compatible with other Qi-certified wireless charging devices. We’ve seen smartphones feature wireless power before – notably Palm/HP’s webOS handsets – but the technology has yet to see a significant boost in the marketplace.

Other specifications include a 1.5GHz dual-core processor paired with 1GB of RAM, the tipsters say, along with 32GB of internal storage. The display will measure in at 4.5-inches and run at HD resolution (presumably 1280 x 720), and be topped by a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera.

However, while Nokia will apparently use its PureView branding on the Lumia 920, the handset won’t get anywhere near the 41-megapixel camera of the 808 PureView. Instead, the 8-megapixel shooter will supposedly be paired with a new image stabilization system, as well as a new camera software.

That’s because PureView isn’t just about raw megapixels but the technology Nokia combines to improve mobile photography. The 808 PureView is successful because it uses clever software that uses multiple clusters of pixels to produce more accurate stills: each pixel in its default, 5-megapixel images combine data from seven pixels on the sensor, allowing the handset to throw out any glitches and get more accurate colors.

It’s not clear if Nokia will therefore be setting the Lumia 920 PureView’s default resolution to 5- or even 2-megapixels – the 808 PureView produced incredible shots, for instance, even at 2MP – or if this branding is a fudge of marketing and capabilities. We’ll know more on September 5, when SlashGear covers the Nokia/Microsoft event!

Nokia Lumia 920 tipped for wireless charging but just 8MP PureView is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

TDK‘s Boombox rocked minds and windows alike with its modern take on a retro classic. Buoyed by its success, the casette-maker of old is back with new audio hardware at IFA. Three devices, again on the speaker front. First up is the Boombox Wireless, which is a similar, but updated, design from the original and features not only streaming sans cables via Bluetooth, but inductive charging, too. If you don’t want to cut the cord completely, there’s a 3.5mm aux input, USB slot for charging plus an FM radio and headphone output. Next up is the Wireless Weatherproof Speaker, which despite being described as “rugged” and boasting an IP 64 weather compliant design, looks like any regular device. It, too, has Bluetooth streaming and inductive charging, along with 3.5mm input and built-in microphone. If these two were all looking a little bit oblong, then the curious Wireless Charging Cube might be for you. Yep, it’s Bluetooth streaming and the same wire-free charging, but this time that goes both ways. Plonk your Qi induction compatible device on top, and it’ll juice that while you jam (there’s a non wireless charging / charger version also.) How much do these slabs of sound cost? The Boombox is $399, the Wireless Weatherproof is $250 while the Wireless Charging Cube is $399. Not a peep on availability at this time, we’ll connect you up though, once we get it.

Continue reading TDK introduces new wireless Boombox and two new weatherproof speakers

Filed under: Home Entertainment

TDK introduces new wireless Boombox and two new weatherproof speakers originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Aug 2012 17:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Device makers are bent on bringing us inductive charging, and Redmond has joined the fray with a recently allotted patent that describes all kinds of tech that could make it work better. For the charging itself, a trick is proposed that’s similar to one we’ve seen before — careful matching of the resonant frequency of charger and device. That would amplify efficiency and allow more than one device to be charged at a time. To make it easier to use, a pressure sensor could detect if a device was on the pad, with different parts of the pad allocated for smartphones or tablets, for instance. The patent also proposes a display placed opposite the charger to give it another use when it’s not juicing, which would be determined by a gyro to sense which side was facing up. Of course, a lot of patents are whimsical things, which never amount to anything — but judging by the detail in this one, Microsoft may have something more concrete in mind.

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Peripherals

Microsoft earns patent for claimed wireless charging improvement, pad with info screen originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Aug 2012 15:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  USPTO  | Email this | Comments